The Shopkeeper Is A Dick
by FossilDragon
Summary: Euca, materialistic, money lover, and now The Gamer. With his new found skills in a familiar setting will he help those he can for free or will he charge people through the nose? A beginner's attempt at a 'Gamer Fic' writing suggestions are highly sought after.
1. I Become The Gamer

Warning: This gamer fic isn't meant to be anything serious. You have been warned.

Also I have no idea what I'm doing send help

Also Disclaimer I own nothing except my ideas.

* * *

I have so many questions.

 **[Unnamed Level 1]**

 **[The Gamer/Money Lover]**

I waved my hand through the floating text. I was lucky that I was alone in my room or else I'd have had to explain what I was doing. Thankfully my roommate was gone for the rest of the day.

Number one: What is this thing floating above me? Why is this thing floating above me? Is it mine?

Number two: Why is it Unnamed? I definitely have a name, it's Euca Vinmoor.

Number three: Why is my damn level so low? I mean, I'm level one! I should at least be half of my age or something.

At least it got one thing right.

I really liked money.

No, scratch that, I fucking loved money.

Money meant buying stuff that made me happy, money meant safety and warmth, money will never let me down.

Problems? Money makes them go away!~

 **[Welcome to The Game! Rejoice! For adventures, loot, and romance await you in the future!]**

"You had me at loot." I said, already resigning myself to this newfound existence of a video game character. Well at least I was going to get some good stuff out of this.

 **[In a few moments, you will be brought to a new world chosen at random but before we go would you like to take the tutorial?]**

"Eh sure, I don't see why I shouldn't." The moment that I said that I began to fall in an empty black space as the world around me faded. I screamed as I flailed before landing on a hard surface. I stood up and soothed my aching bottom, which had taken the brunt of the fall.

 **[Welcome to the tutorial stage! To begin, please say or think 'Menu'!]**

"Menu."

 **[Status]**

 **[Locked]**

 **[Locked]**

 **[Locked]**

I raised my eyebrow at the various locked options. Maybe I unlock them later in the tutorial?

 **[As you can see, other options are locked for now. Let's start with your Status.]**

"Status." A green window appeared before me.

 **[Euca Vinmoor]**

 **[Level:1]**

 **[HP:42]**

 **[STR:7]**

 **[VIT:6]**

 **[DEX:5]**

 **[AGI:5]**

 **[INT:5]**

 **[LUK:8]**

 **[EXP: 0/100]**

 **[Points:0]**

I looked at my stats and whistled at how high my LUK was compared to everything else. I had played games before so I knew what my stats meant for me. It meant that I was going to be hitting things with my hands more often than shooting them. I had no complaints, maybe I'll pick up rock throwing as a combat skill.

 **[Looking good! You have a decent amount of strength so let's get you a strength based weapon...Done, I've put it in your Inventory!]**

My status window closed and one of the locked options from earlier was replaced with Inventory. I selected it and found myself looking at various tabs for item categories and mostly empty item slots. Over to the side was a silhouette of a human with a bunch of squares filled with my current attire. I looked in the weapons tab and found what was given to me.

 **[Wooden Mallet]**

 **[It's Hammer Time! A wooden mallet given during the tutorial, a light heavy weapon perfect for smashing things, pitching tents and playing Backyard Whack-a-mole.]**

I equipped the mallet and my hands were immediately occupied by the weapon. I experimentally lifted it up and down, finding that I liked it's weight in my hands.

 **[Now let's see how skilled you are!]**

The window forcefully closed and I opened the new option for Skills.

 **[Gamer's Mind MAX]**

 **[Gamer's Body MAX]**

I wanted to know more about the skills I have and tried looking closely at them.

 **[Through wanting to learn you have a learned a new Skill!]**

 **[Observe Lvl1]**

[The art of knowing things is now under your command! Use this skill to know more about the world around you!]

"Observe." I used the skill on my Skills.

 **[Gamer's Mind MAX]**

 **[Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological mass effect.]**

 **[Gamer's Body MAX]**

 **[Grants a body that allows for the user to live the real world like a game. Sleeping in a bed restores HP, MP and all mass effects.]**

"Ok, pretty cool. Where's the looting?"

 **[Calm down, calm down, we're getting to that. Check out you quests!]**

The Skills window closed by itself and I opened the last unlocked option, Quests.

 **[Active Quests]**

 **[Tutorial: Finish the tutorial.]**

 **[Rewards: 100XP, Better starter weapon, Gacha Cube]**

"What's a Gacha Cube?" I asked loudly as I closed the Quests window.

 **[You'll see! Now try to survive!]**

"Survi-whoa!" I hastily used the hammer to block a sudden stick that appeared out of nowhere to bash my head in.

 **[Master Of Sticks]**

 **[100HP]**

 **[The tutorial boss blocks your path.]**

Master Of Sticks looked like an animated wooden dummy, only one that could would sticks, was ridiculously fast, and made me wish that sticks didn't look terrifying in its hands.

I pushed the stick away and tried to kick the boss but it back flipped away from me and lunged at me again. I swung my mallet upwards and sent the dummy flying through the air and watched it land with a satisfactory thud.

 **[-11HP]**

"Whoo! Come on! Is that all you got!?" I taunted, holding the hammer with both hands.

As it turns out, that wasn't all that its got. The dummy rose, lifeless yet I could sense that it was mad. It charged at me and deflected my swing, landing a very devastating hit to my chest before leaping backwards. I saw my health get cleaved in half with that one attack.

"So that's how you want it?" I grit my teeth in anger.

It charged at me and this time I was ready for it. I held my ground as it approached me at an alarming speed, quickly covering the distance between us. A few meters more and my hands tightened their grip. Just when he was in front of me did I decide to move, meeting his charge with my shoulder and stopping it in exchange for more lost health.

I struck the dummy with the handle and knocked it down before I proceeded to repeatedly bash its head and chest in with several hammer swings.

 **[Quest Complete!]**

 **[Level Up!]**

 **[Item Get! Stone Hammer, Gacha Cube!]**

I spread the new 3 points in VIT, LUK, and STR before grabbing my new hammer out of the Inventory. The design was simple but oddly enough the hammers weighed the same to me. I moved into the Items tab of my Inventory and used Observe on the Gacha Cube.

 **[Gacha Cube]**

 **[RNG in a box! These little cubes of joy could bring you great luck of misfortune!]**

So it was a random item box. That was good to know. What worries me is what this thing might consider as misfortune.

I stared at it intently before deciding to use it and hope for the best. The tiny glowing white cube rotated slowly in my hand before I decided to poke it. The cube spun rapidly as it started blinking. I braced myself for the worst my vision was consumed by light.

 **[You got lucky! You get a weapon!]**

 **[Treasured Coin]**

 **[A throwing coin that always returns to your pocket and somehow hurts so much. You can pay 1HP to double the amount of coins you currently have for the rest of the fight.]**

 **[+1% Money earned per coin]**

I whistled in appreciation at what apparently would become my favourite item.

All around me the black space that was this world was slowly being illuminated white by an unseen light source.

 **[That concludes the tutorial! Have fun with your new life!]**

The world faded into white.

 **[Euca Vinmoor]**

 **[Level:2]**

 **[HP:48]**

 **[STR:8]**

 **[VIT:7]**

 **[DEX:5]**

 **[AGI:5]**

 **[INT:5]**

 **[LUK:9]**

 **[EXP: 0/200]**

 **[Points:0]**


	2. I Become A Merchant

Waking up with a pounding headache was never pleasant. I sat up from what I felt to be grass and shook off my discomfort at being out in nature alone at night. "Ugh, I feel like I stayed up using the laptop for too long." I commented, putting my pain into words as I clambered off of the ground and pat the dirt off of my hands.

 **[Welcome to Remnant! We hope that you enjoy your stay here!]**

"Oh fuck not this shit." I groaned. While I didn't mind the fact I was now in a world where a girl several years younger than me could kick more ass than me and make me inadequate, I did mind the fact that from what I remember RWBY is one of those worlds where you really have to put an effort into staying alive.

 **[With your arrival several things have been updated! Would you like to look at the patch notes?]**

"Yes please." I said, curious as to what changes there were.

 **[Patch Notes]**

 **[Aura has been added as an energy resource affected by VIT and INT]**

 **[Abilities with costs now require Aura to use.]**

 **[Difficulty has been set to Difficult. You will only gain Status Points from Items or Levelling Up.]**

 **[Due to Difficulty setting you have received 10 extra Status points for your use.]**

 **[Nametag has been updated.]**

 **[Classes have been added]**

I looked up and sure enough, instead of [Unnamed] from before my name and level not floated above me.

"Stats."

 **[Euca Vinmoor]**

 **[Level:2]**

 **[Class: Beginner]**

 **[HP:48]**

 **[AP: 130]**

 **[STR:8]**

 **[VIT:7]**

 **[DEX:5]**

 **[AGI:5]**

 **[INT:5]**

 **[LUK:9]**

 **[EXP: 0/200]**

 **[Points:10]**

I put six points into LUK and put the rest into STR and VIT, bringing my LUK to 15, my STR into 10 and my VIT to 9. I didn't put much stock into the other stats so I only put points into what mattered to me, STR for the hurting, VIT for the living, and LUK for the…well…luck.

 **[Euca Vinmoor]**

 **[Level:2]**

 **[HP:103]**

 **[AP:130]**

 **[STR:10]**

 **[VIT:9]**

 **[DEX:5]**

 **[AGI:5]**

 **[INT:5]**

 **[LUK:15]**

 **[EXP: 0/200]**

 **[Points:0]**

Content with my spread sheet of stats I closed it and took a look around. I was in a grassland somewhere. I'd look at the Classes when I'm somewhere a lot more comfortable and a lot less death prone. I could see lights of a city just over the horizon. It looked like dawn was coming and my trip to civilization was going to be safe.

 **[New Quest! A Morning Workout]**

 **[Uh oh, looks like you've stumbled upon a Beowolf pup! Defeat it before finding your way to civilization!]**

 **[Rewards: 150XP, 50-100 Lien]**

I spoke too soon. There was a small Beowolf pacing in the direction I was heading to.

"Observe."

 **[Beowolf Pup]**

 **[20HP]**

 **[Small but terrible.]**

I brought out my Stone Hammer and tried to approach it without gaining its attention. I was mostly successful but when I reached striking range it whirled and lunged at me. I blocked it and threw the Beowolf to the side where it recovered quickly and growled at me before letting loose a long resounding howl.

Several other howls rang through the area.

 **[It has called for reinforcements.]**

 **[3:21]**

It was a countdown.

My other hand held Treasured Coin in its grasp. I was going to be in a lot of trouble if I didn't end this fight quickly. I paid its cost to double it seven times and began pelting the Beowolf Pup with it. As I expected I missed a lot of times but I did manage to get a few shots in.

 **[-2HP]**

 **[-2HP]**

 **[-2HP]**

Suddenly I charged recklessly and tackled the Beowolf Pup with my shoulder before lifting Stone Hammer and bashing its head hard enough I heard something crack.

 **[You have created a new skill: Reckless Charge]**

 **[Reckless Charge – 30AP]**

[Charge in the general direction of your enemy and hope for the best!]

 **[Victory!]**

 **[Item Get! Bone Mask Shards x4]**

I brought up my Inventory and used Observe on it.

 **[Shards from the bone masks of Grimm. This material is usable for making items or potions.]**

"Potions? Potions?!" I exclaimed. One of the many fantasy items that have always fascinated me was potions. Knowing I could make potions made me giddy. I dismissed the various windows.

 **[1:02]**

'The timer was still counting down?!'

I decided to do what would be best for my health and leg it away from the area and towards the dimming city lights.

"RUN AWAAAAAAAY!" I yelled, going as fast as my legs would be able to.

 **[You have created a-** "Shut up already!"

 **[Quest Complete!]**

 **[Level Up!]**

 **[You Earned 210 Lien!]**

I panted as I leaned against a building and caught my breath. It was a after dawn that I arrived in the city and I sat myself down on the sidewalk and thought about what to do from here on out. I could use this new power of mine to help people here, go to Beacon and go on adventures…

'On the other hand…I could not do that. I could do as I pleased and make a quick buck. I could stay here in...' I looked around for any signs of my location. 'Vale, this is Vale, I'm in Vale. I could stay here in Vale and open a shop or something…speaking of getting here, Stats, Classes...'

 **[Euca Vinmoor]**

 **[Level:3]**

 **[Class: Beginner]**

 **[HP:55]**

 **[AP:210]**

 **[STR:10]**

 **[VIT:9]**

 **[DEX:5]**

 **[AGI:5]**

 **[INT:5]**

 **[LUK:15]**

 **[EXP: 0/300]**

 **[Points:3]**

'Hmm…maybe I should invest a little in INT and AGI…' I thought before putting the points into them and VIT. Then I turned my attention to the Classes that were available.

 **[Classes]**

 **[Different classes have different bonuses and give you different abilities! You can only choose one!]**

 **[Swordsman]**

 **[Archer]**

 **[Mage]**

 **[Acolyte]**

 **[Thief]**

 **[Gunner]**

 **[Martial Artist]**

 **[Merchant]**

"Let's see here…" I began as I quietly read through each description, humming all the way. After a few moments of reading I rather liked how Merchant looked like. "Merchants…" I began to reread its entry. "Always in the lookout for profit. Merchants sport inherent sturdiness, allowing the Gamer to carry more items than they normally would be able to and easily wield melee weapons and wear heavy armor. This class also allows the opening of shops to sell your wares. I like this, I really like this." I selected Merchant and watched my stats go up.

 **[Euca Vinmoor]**

 **[Level:3]**

 **[Class: Merchant]**

 **[HP:59]**

 **[AP:330]**

 **[STR:10+5]**

 **[VIT:10+4]**

 **[DEX:5+5]**

 **[AGI:6+1]**

 **[INT:6+1]**

 **[LUK:15+2]**

 **[EXP: 0/300]**

 **[Points:0]**

I closed the status window and inspected my Inventory, noting that it looked like I had more item slots. It even showed that I had more equipment slots than normal.

 **[You have learned the skills: Open Store and Hardened Strike]**

 **[Open Store]**

 **[Claims an area as your store for 10000 Lien. You can sell your items here and even use it as a place to stay.]**

 **[Hardened Strike]**

 **[Deal 600% damage with your next attack.]**

My eyes shot open at the price of Open Store. I looked at my hammer and then at the direction I came and groaned.

This was going to take a while.


	3. I Become A Shopkeeper

**[You have been Exhausted!]**

 **[-50% Damage, -35% Attack Speed, -35% Movement Speed]**

 **[Duration: 1:00:20]**

I must've been quite the sight in the sunlight streets of Vale in the afternoon. Bloody, messy, bloody messy, I garnered a few looks of concern as I trudged through the streets of the city. I had spent the next few hours of my time in this world doing what I thought to be the most viable tactic any displaced human with whose life has just been turned into a video game.

Run at the Grimm and hope I don't die, I said. It'll work wonderfully, I said.

 **[Euca Vinmoor]**

 **[Level:10]**

 **[Class: Merchant]**

 **[HP:34/127]**

 **[AP:1450]**

 **[STR:15+5]**

 **[VIT:15+4]**

 **[DEX:8+5]**

 **[AGI:8+1]**

 **[INT:8+1]**

 **[LUK:26+2]**

 **[EXP: 40/1000]**

 **[Points:0]**

 **[Lien: 12004]**

It worked, well as much as you could classify charging into a Beowolf and battering it with a hammer as 'working'. Granted, there were a few close calls here and there but I guess that's what makes this life in a game difficult.

I found a nice abandoned building in Vale. Creaky floorboards, unhinged doors, broken stairways, cracked windows, all the markers for being unfit for human habitation, normally. It seemed like a building that would not be missed or noticed easily and that was what I was going for. It would look suspicious if a known abandoned building was suddenly home to someone so I had to go for one that was out of the way. I had come to terms that if I did this future customers were not going to notice the shop.

"Open Store."

 **[You have claimed Abandoned Building as your store!]**

 **[-10000 Lien]**

Before my eyes I saw the building shift. The changes were minor, namely the addition of shelves in the first floor, the addition of display windows on the front, and the minor repairs making the building slightly more inhabitable than it was before. I gently nudged the door open and walked inside of what was going to be my home for quite some time.

I noticed a red door at the other end of the floor. It seemed out of place, looking a lot newer compared to the building. I approached it and gingerly touched the door, feeling it unlock.

 **[You have unlocked Workshop]**

 **[As a Merchant you have the ability to create basic to intermediate items for self-use or for sale. Workshop is a private and safe environment for item crafting. Future class upgrades will add new functions to the Workshop.]**

Inside the room beyond the red door were several tables, walls lined with tools hanging from hooks, from the basics such as hammers and screw drivers to the esoteric like...

"What the hell is this thing?" I asked out loud, picking up what looked to be a pyramid stuck to the end of a metal stick with a handle. The pyramid itself sported some engravings that I seemed to move when I wasn't looking. Out of curiosity I used observe on it.

 **[? Stabiliser]**

 **[Level too low to Observe]**

"Well that's new." I commented, carefully putting the tool back into the hook it was on. I turned my attention to the books laying neatly on one of the tables and used Observe on it.

 **[Skill Book: Break Down]**

 **[Skill Book: Item Crafting]**

 **[Skill Book: ID Create]**

 **[Skill Book: ID Escape]**

I picked up the Break Down book.

 **[Would you like to learn Break Down?]**

"Yes please." The book vanished into motes of light that I absorbed.

 **[You have learned the skill: Break Down]**

 **[Destroy items for their materials. Non-combat only.]**

I took out my broken Stone Hammer and used Break Down on it.

 **[Item Destroyed! You get Stone x3, Stick x2]**

I greedily turned to the other books on the table.

 **[Would you like to learn Item Crafting?]**

 **[Would you like to learn ID Creation?]**

 **[Would you like to learn ID Escape?]**

"Yes."

The following headache I got was worth the skills, but I was not going to be doing that again. Next time I learn from Skill Books I was going to do it one by one.

I took out several of the Bone Mask Shards that I got from fighting Beowolves and the sticks I got from the hammer and used Item Crafting on them.

 **[Bone Cruncher Mace]**

 **[A basic bone weapon made from Bone Mask Shards. +2 STR, -200AP]**

 **[You get 30 XP]**

This was the first time that I actually got a weapon with any modifiers. I didn't like that it reduced my Aura by 200 but I did need a weapon and making them would be cheaper than buying them. It was also nice to know that making items gave me XP.

As an experiment I tried using Item Crafting the stones I got from the hammer.

 **[Bigger Stone]**

I didn't know what else I was expecting. I noted that I didn't get any XP.

'I must only get XP when I make something usable.' I realized, putting the now bigger stone back in my Inventory.

I exited the workshop and was about to head upstairs to check on it before I remembered that I should probably close the shop door. I ran back and closed the front door, making sure that it was locked before I went up.

The upstairs seemed to be my sleeping quarters. A bundle of blankets and pillows on the floor, a relatively dirty bathroom to the side, and a single tall lamp in the centre of it all, badly illuminating the room. It wasn't much but I managed to use Item Crafting on the bundle of blankets and pillows and got a sleeping bag for it. I set it down at the edge of the light the lamp was making and crawled into it.

I decided that I was going to see what I could do with the ID Creation tomorrow. Exhausted might go away after some time but with the day I had I was still exhausted.

I let oblivion drag me into a dreamless sleep.

I can't wait for tomorrow.

 **[Euca Vinmoor]**

 **[Level:10]**

 **[Class: Merchant]**

 **[HP:34/127]**

 **[AP:1450]**

 **[STR:15+5]**

 **[VIT:15+4]**

 **[DEX:8+5]**

 **[AGI:8+1]**

 **[INT:8+1]**

 **[LUK:26+2]**

 **[EXP: 40/1000]**

 **[Points:0]**

 **[Lien: 2004]**

 **[Skills}**

 **[Gamer's Mind MAX]**

 **[Gamer's Body Max]**

 **[Observe Lvl3]**

 **[Sprint Lvl5]**

 **[Open Store Max]**

 **[Hardened Strike Lvl4]**

 **[Equipment]**

 **[Empty]**

 **[Empty]**

 **[Common Shirt]**

 **[Empty]**

 **[Empty][Empty]**

 **[Common Pants]**

 **[Common Shoes]**

 **[Bone Cruncher Mace]**

 **[Treasured Coin]**

 **[Empty]**

 **[Empty]**


	4. Dungeon Dangers

**[You have rested in a sleeping bag! HP and AP have been fully restored! All debuffs have been removed!]**

"Well good morning to you too." I replied sarcastically, clambering out of the sleeping bag and kicking it to the corner.

 **[New Quest! A Great Start]**

 **[A brand new day has come! Find some place to buy breakfast!]**

 **[Rewards: 20XP, A full stomach]**

Sleepily scratching my head, I went into the bathroom and splashed water into my face before fixing my hair and heading down to the shop. I left the shop in search of food. I had 2004 Lien to my name, I could pretty much afford a simple breakfast or five. I found a hotdog stand after turning a few corners and going down a few streets. I purchased a couple of hotdogs in buns for 50 Lien and quickly scarfed it down.

 **[Quest Complete!]**

 **[You get 20 XP!]**

I returned to my workshop, content with my meal, and ready to try out more stuff about my new situation.

"ID Create." I said before the world fell away.

I found myself in a cavern of sorts, filled with glowing crystals of various colours. Deep blues, calm greens, fiery reds, vivid yellows, I almost felt bad for what I was going to do next. I approached a green crystal.

"Break Down." The crystal shattered into nothingness, the sound echoing all over the cavern.

 **[Item Destroyed! You get Crystal Shards x4]**

"Observe."

 **[Shards of some sort of glowing crystal. Can be crushed further or used as is.]**

I heard twitching coming from the far end of the cave and I whipped out my mace and pointed it at the source.

"Who's there?!" I yelled out, moving slowly and ready to swing.

I heard the twitching stop as I edged nearer to the darkness of the cavern. Suddenly something poked its leg out and I reacted on instinct and crushed it and heard something click rapidly.

 **[Big Ant Horde]**

 **[40/40HP x35]**

I let out a manly scream as I ran away from the horde of ants the size of large dogs with glowing red eyes and were all out for my blood. I managed to Break Down a few more crystals, bringing it to a total of twenty before using ID Escape to leave the dungeon.

 **[Sprint has levelled up!]**

I panted as I stumbled down into the floor and used the counter to pull myself up.

"I…" I began. "…am not going back there without armour…and fire." I declared, thumping my mace against the counter. The ants didn't scare me, they merely caught me off guard and that's the story I'm sticking with if anyone asks. Shaking off my disgust at having to go to a place where there were giant insects, even if they were only ants, I retreated into the Workshop to see what I could do with the Crystal Shards while waiting for my AP to fill up again.

I dropped the Crystal Shards onto a Workshop table and began to think on what I wanted. On one hand, I did need the armour but somehow I think that crystal armour wouldn't exactly hold up against a good blow, no matter how good it may seem. Then I remembered that I still had Wooden Mallet in my inventory.

I set the hammer on the table and broke it down, receiving 2 sticks and 3 wood chunks for my trouble. I then used Item Creation on the sticks, wood, and Crystal Shards.

"Observe." I said, using it on the newly created item. It was long and looked like it was made of twisted wood. At the very end was a green glowing crystal being held in place by the wood snaking around it

 **[Observe has levelled up!]**

 **[Staff Of Nature]**

 **[A magical staff that calls upon nature to do your bidding. Gives: Nature's Blessing(Ability). +5 INT]**

 **[You get 30 XP]**

 **[Nature's Blessing MAX]**

 **[Heals the user or a target for 9%]**

'Well this is useful.' I began as experimentally gave it a small swing. I tried equipping it.

 **[Need 10 INT to use this weapon.]**

I stored the staff into my Inventory for future use before standing up when I noticed that my AP had refilled back into full.

"Let's try saying something after it, something for a good start. ID Create Slimes!"

* * *

 **[Sprint has levelled up!]**

 **[Sprint has levelled up!]**

"ShitshitshitshitshitSHIIIIIIT." I cursed as I ran away from a Slime.

 **[Acid Slime]**

 **[?/?HP]**

 **[?]**

Slimes were not an easy place to start with apparently. The acid green slime bounced along behind me, melting the grass, twigs, stones, and other slimes it landed on with a fizz. I had resolved to keep running and not get caught by the monstrous slime. There was nothing here for me to use Break Down on for it was all grasslands in this dungeon.

"ID ESCAPE ID ESCAPE ID ESCAAAPE!" I yelled out before tumbling back into the workshop with a thud.

"Alright…" I rubbed my face in annoyance. "Slimes, not trying that again till later."

I had to wait for my AP bar to fill up again…maybe I really should put in more points into INT for faster AP regeneration.

* * *

I decided to go for something a whole lot more human than before. ID Create Castle was turning out quite well for me.

 **[Inventory]**

 **[Bigger Stone]**

 **[Stick x2]**

 **[Wood Chunk x4]**

 **[Crystal Shard x20]**

 **[Metal Scrap x72]**

I now had plenty of material and had managed to level up a couple times from fighting Knights. They weren't obnoxiously large and scary nor did they employ swarm tactics. It was actually sort of honourable of them.

 **[Euca Vinmoor]**

 **[Level:12]**

 **[Class: Merchant]**

 **[HP:126/149]**

 **[AP:1600]**

 **[STR:19+5+2]**

 **[VIT:15+4]**

 **[DEX:10+5]**

 **[AGI:10+1]**

 **[INT:10+1]**

 **[LUK:26+2]**

 **[EXP: 180/1200]**

 **[Points:0]**

 **[Lien: 1954]**

"DEUS VULT INFIDEL." What? Observe.

 **[Crusader]**

 **[1000/1000HP]**

 **[DEUS VULT! The Crusader sports massive defences and incredible strength.]**

"I AM UNPREPARED FOR THIS!" I yelled back at the well armoured and definitely better armed titan of armoured death, if we were going by how shiny his armour was and how menacing he looked with his longsword.

"ID Escape!"

 **[You cannot leave while there's a boss.]**

"Fuck." I was definitely in for a rough time.

I ran away from the boss that was definitely charging towards me. I turned and barrelled down the corridor, trying to shake the Crusader off my tail.

"YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY HERETIC." He spoke-yelled from far behind me. It was lucky that I had put more points into AGI and I had managed to hide inside what looked like an empty bedroom. I had to think fast on what to do. I couldn't use ID Escape since it was a boss monster…err boss human. In terms of defences I had none, and my method of damage would probably be reduced upon hitting him.

In desperation I emptied my inventory into the floor and used Item Crafting on it. I heard someone go 'AHA' from the end of the corridor.

 **[Item Crafting has levelled up!]**

 **[Item Crafting has levelled up!]**

 **[Item Crafting has levelled up!]**

 **[Heavy Platemail]**

 **[5% Damage Reduction, +100 HP]**

 **[Heavy Helmet]**

 **[5% Damage Reduction, x1.2 HP]**

 **[Charging Shield]**

 **[10% Damage Reduction, +3 STR When Attacking]**

 **[You get 150 XP]**

I quickly put the new items on, just in time for Crusader to kick the door down with one move.

"WHAT MANNER OF HERESY IS THIS?"

 **[New Quest! Fight To Live!]**

 **[Defeat Crusader]**

 **[Rewards: 500 XP]**

I bashed my mace into the shield repeatedly, goading the Crusader into attacking me. The Crusader fell for it and charged at me. I deflected his sword with my shield and bashed my mace against his bucket helmed head with Hardened Strike.

 **[Through action you have gained a new skill!]**

 **[Deflect Lvl1]**

 **[Redirect an attack using a shield or weapon. 75% Effective without using a shield]**

 **[CRITICAL -216 HP]**

My eyes bugged out at the sheer amount of damage I dealt. So enamoured was I at the fact that LUK did in fact let me do critical hits that the Crusader managed to recover and brought his sword down to my shoulder.

 **[-96 HP]**

With all my might I powered through his attack and bashed the Crusader's arm with another Hardened Strike. I heard the sound of something breaking.

 **[-18 HP]**

I attacked with renewed ferocity bringing my mace down again and again and again, as long as I didn't mess up I could do this. I could win, I could live!

The clash of bone and steel continued for many more minutes. The Crusader and I trading blows and blocks. Sword meeting shield, mace meeting armour. At some point I had somehow equipped the Staff of Nature to keep myself healthy until finally…

 **[Quest Complete!]**

 **[You get 500 XP]**

 **[Item get! Crusader Plate Steel x10]**

I hefted my now broken mace, as I had expected since I was using bone against steel with excessive force, and decided that now would be a good time to use ID Escape. Then I remembered something and approached the thankfully untouched.

"Break Down."

 **[Item Destroyed! You get Wood Chunk x15, Cloth x10]**

I was going to use this for a bed tonight.

"ID Escape."

* * *

Next time on TSIAD

 **[Jaune Arc Lvl4]**

 **[HP 1040/1040]**

 **[AP 15000/15000]**

"Bullshiiiiiiit."

"…What?"

"Oh nothing, just talking to the voices in my head."

* * *

Euca at the end of the chapter.

 **[Euca Vinmoor]**

 **[Level:12]**

 **[Class: Merchant]**

 **[HP:299/299]**

 **[AP:1980]**

 **[STR:19+5]**

 **[VIT:15+4]**

 **[DEX:10+5]**

 **[AGI:10+1]**

 **[INT:10+1+5]**

 **[LUK:26+2]**

 **[EXP: 830/1200]**

 **[Points:0]**

 **[Lien: 1954]**

 **[Skills]**

 **[Gamer's Mind MAX]**

 **[Gamer's Body Max]**

 **[Observe Lvl4]**

 **[Sprint Lvl8]**

 **[Open Store Max]**

 **[Hardened Strike Lvl4]**

 **[Break Down]**

 **[Item Crafting Lvl5]**

 **[ID Create]**

 **[ID Escape]**

 **[Deflect Lvl2]**

 **[Equipment]**

 **[Heavy Helmet]**

 **[Empty]**

 **[Heavy Platemail]**

 **[Empty]**

 **[Empty][Empty]**

 **[Common Pants]**

 **[Common Shoes]**

 **[Bone Cruncher Mace (Broken)]**

 **[Treasured Coin]**

 **[Charging Shield]**

 **[Staff Of Nature]**

 **[Inventory]**

 **[Bigger Stone]**

 **[Wood Chunk x19]**

 **[Crystal Shard x15]**

 **[Metal Scrap x22]**

 **[Cloth x10]**


	5. I Get A Victim

**[The Game has been updated!]**

 **[Class Advancements have been added!]**

 **[Skill Creation has been patched, skills now appear more often!]**

* * *

It has been almost a week since my initial lucrative business venture into the Knight Instant Dungeon. Metal Scraps were a very useful item material to have with it being actual metal for me to use so I had taken to returning to the dungeon multiple times. Being able to fill my shelves with metal things like scrap metal, bars of metal, and some equipment such as daggers, swords, and spears had given me customers and a surplus of Metal Scraps that I have any idea what to do with.

It was nice to discover that making sales actually gave me XP, another bonus of the Merchant class.

So now I was sitting in my shop on a quiet Sunday afternoon, counting up today's earnings and wondering whether or not I should actually throw splurge a little bit for something nice to eat for I had been eating nothing but hotdogs the entire week. I had also been saving up Lien to buy materials to repair my quaint shop of gain. No one would come in here to shop if it looked like the shop was going to collapse on them any moment.

I eyed the 'Help Wanted' sign on the display window of my shop and sighed. I had put the sign up the day after I had my first customer, a Faunus guy looking for something to hit with, in hopes that someone would take it and man the shop while I experimented with the Item Creation in the Workshop.

Or while I slept or lounged about in the Workshop.

I heard the sound of the door opening and jammed the Lien into the drawer.

"Welcome to Moor Items!" I greeted the newcomer automatically with a wave, keeping a calm face as I used Observe on someone I already recognize.

 **[Jaune Arc Lvl4]**

 **[Hunter Wannabe]**

 **[1040/1040 HP]**

 **[15000/15000 AP]**

"Bulshiiiit." I exclaimed complainingly. His health was leagues above mine and I was not touching the subject of his Aura without something caffeinated or mildly alcoholic.

"…What?" He was looked taken aback by my sudden response.

"Oh nothing, just talking to the voices in my head." I replied dismissively. "So what're you looking to buy?" I added as I used observe on his sword.

 **[Crocea Mors]**

 **[An old sword passed down from generation to generation. It's incredibly durable despite being very old.]**

 **[Observe has levelled up!]**

"O…kay?" He began "I was wondering if you sold any armour..." I realized that he wasn't wearing the white armour from the series that I remembered and was only sporting his black hoodie. I mentally berated myself for being slow on the uptake.

"Hmm, armour you say." I said with a grin before leaping over the counter, making Jaune back up. I circled him, looking like I was appraising him by slowly moving my head up and down. "Yes, I sell armour, I can't exactly display it since they're an expensive thing to make and let me tell you, one size does not fit all." He gulped visibly.

"Expensive?" He squeaked.

"Hmm given someone your size?" I continued without breaking stride before making it look like I was thinking about something by absentmindedly rubbing my chin "Ehh…It'll be 5000 Lien." I probably could've made it a lot cheaper. My announcement was met with silence.

"I don't have that much…" He finally said before slowly turning around with slumped shoulders and began walking away.

"…Tch, wait." He turned back. "Why do you need the armour? Shouldn't kids like you already have that and be going to those fancy Hunter schools and be learning to fight the Grimm?"

"I got here early and Beacon doesn't start until a few months from now…"

"…Pffffffft…" I began to laugh, much to his embarrassment. His shouts of 'Stop laughing!' and 'It's not funny!' only made me laugh harder. Soon I began coughing and wiping my tears from my eyes, finally calming down. "I haven't had a laugh like that in years! Tell ya what, I'll make you some armour, yeah, I'll do that free of charge."

"Really?" He looked hopeful.

"Heck no." Now he looked crushed. "I'd be out of a business if I gave away stuff for free, instead I'll offer you a deal. You work for me here in this shop and before you go to Beacon I'll be giving you that armour. Does that sound nice to you?" I held out my hand with the most sinister grin I can muster.

"I'll do it! I'll work for you until Beacon starts!" He said, shaking my hand. "Can I design it?"

"You're pushing it." I jokingly warned with a smile. He was going to get the armour he was supposed to have. "So, what's my new employee's name?"

"It's Jaune Arc! Sho-"

"Yeah yeah Jaune Arc, here's your first task, go buy me dinner, noodles and soda." I said, slapping a few Lien cards onto his chest with enough force to stagger him and send him to the floor.

"Ow!" He was now clutching the money in his hands and looked up at me with a bewildered look on his face.

"Do you want that armour or not?" I tapped my foot impatiently and glared. I held back my laughter as I watched him scramble out of the shop.

"Mwehehehe…HAHAHAHA!" I let a manic grin decorate my features as I rubbed my hands excitedly. "Jaune Arc…I will make a warrior out of you, the Merchant way." I declared to the empty shop.

Somewhere in Vale, a running Jaune Arc felt dread at something, he just wasn't sure what it was for.

* * *

The next chapter will take a lot longer before I release it, basically it'll cover Jaune's first month...of whatever this is.


	6. I'm HALPING

It was the morning after I had decided to use Jaune Arcs employment, by that I actually meant servitude, on making Jaune Arc be a better fighter than I had known him to be. I had already made his armour using the Crusader Plate Steel I had gotten the other day from fighting the Crusader. He better appreciate the work I've put into this, despite it being very little, this particular one made me hesitant to part with the armour.

 **[Noble Knight Armor(White)]**

 **[One of a knight's many best friends. +2 To all Stats, x1.1 HP, x1.1 AP]**

"…You better get good Jaune Arc, because of what I'm going to put you through, you are either going to get stronger…" I placed the armour in my Inventory . "…or fuck up in the future. And quite honestly, it's no skin off my nose if you fucked up."

I rubbed my hands together in glee at the prospect of making someone suffer in what I could conceive to be the most humorous manner I could imagine.

* * *

74 days before Beacon Starts

That was how much time I had with Jaune Arc. Let's start by gauging how much I should work on him.

"Hey Arc!" Jaune looked up from where he was sweeping, badly I might add. "Get over here!" He scuttled over, leaving the broom to lean on a wall. I kicked a wooden crate full of Metal Scraps out from behind the counter. "I want you to bring this upstairs."

"Yes Mr Moor!" He tried lifting the box and only managed to lift it up from the ground a few centimetres. I stared there in silence as he moved the box to the stairway in a…at this point even using the word 'slow' would be a compliment.

"You …uh…you need some help there?" He waved me away, stating that he could do it, and tried moving the box again.

I was slightly impressed at the fact he managed to get it to the stairway before I waved him off and lifted the box with one hand before bringing it up the stairs.

Looks like I was going to have my work cut out for me.

* * *

72 days before Beacon.

I had not made progress with my big box trial and decided to tone it down a lot by separating the weights of the first box into several boxes.

"Hey Arc! Got some more boxes for you here!" I called out once he entered the shop from…somewhere.

In fact, where did he sleep? How would he have enough money for maybe 70 more days of living before Beacon? Do I have to ask?

Nah.

* * *

71 days before Beacon.

Alright, now we were making progress. After yesterday's slight success I cut down the boxes' weight by half. Now I had a total of eight boxes that I will have Jaune carry up the stairs every day for his time here and when things look easy enough I'll double their weights.

68 days before Beacon.

"I have a question." I looked up from counting my legally earned Lien. The afternoon sun shone through the slightly cracked windows of the shop.

'Observe'

 **[Jaune Arc Lvl5]**

 **[Hunter Wannabe]**

 **[1050/1050 HP]**

 **[15000/15000 AP]**

"What is it Arc?"

"Why do you keep making me bring heavy boxes upstairs?"

"You see Arc, when I agreed to make you your armour I figured that I might as well make an effort into doing it." I lied. "Those boxes are metals that I'm using to make your armour."

"Ohhh…" Realization was evident on his face. "Thanks! Mr Moor."

"Arc, I'm literally as young as you, quit calling me Mr Moor."

"But I don't know what else to call you…you didn't give me your name."

"Ah…" I felt embarrassed about not giving him my name. "Well, you can call me Euca, Euca Vinmoor is my full name."

"Well Euca, you can call me Jaune!"

"Don't count on it Mr Arc, I'm still your boss and you should get back to work."

* * *

65 days before Beacon.

I had double the box weights today, it looked like he was getting used to the weights. I almost laughed myself silly when he realized that the boxes were now heavier. He should be able to lift a full box by the end of this or else he won't be able to use the armour I made for him.

Now that he was actually getting stronger I had a new problem to tackle. I had decided not to touch his fighting since at Beacon he would probably end up a better fighter than me, I didn't mind that, I wasn't a fighter, I was a Merchant first and foremost. I now needed a way to improve his toughness and throwing things at him was out of the question…

Which had brought me to my new project.

"Item Crafting."

 **[Item Crafting has levelled up]**

 **[Training Armor]**

 **[Leaves whoever is wearing it mostly intact. +1 VIT]**

 **[Steel Warhammer]**

 **[A heavy warhammer designed to smash into things. Whoever is hit is in for a world of hurt. +2 STR, +2 VIT, -2 AGI]**

* * *

64 days before Beacon.

"Hey Arc! Would you come here for a bit?" I yelled from the second floor when I heard him enter the shop. He made his way upstairs.

"Euca is that what I think it is?" He excitedly eyed the Training Armor I got him.

"No, this is just to see if I got you measurements right and if you can handle the armour I'm making you. Here, put it on."

"It's a bit heavy…" He complained after putting it on.

"That's the point." I suddenly hit him in the chest with the hammer and he went flying into the wall before sliding off of it.

 **[-48 HP]**

Oh good, It didn't hurt him that much…should I be insulted that I didn't? I feel like I should be insulted.

"What was that for!?" He yelled after getting up while I marvelled at the fact that the armour didn't show any visible signs of damage.

"Armour testing...y'know, for your armour." I lied, rearing up for another smash.

"Wait wait! Shouldn't you ask if I'm ready?"

"Are you?"

"No!"

"Too bad." Another blow and this time I knocked him down the stairs. I heard a low whine of pain from the first floor and the distinct sound of my wares falling from the shelves. "Oh man up, I'm not even putting my back into it…also you're picking that up."

The groan of exasperation was music to my ears.

It was late in the evening when I finally concluded this little beating session with Jaune Arc, stopping when a customer came in or to have a snack. His HP made him a ridiculously good punching bag for a hammer. He now laid battered and exhausted on the second floor as I stood over him. "Hey, it's closing time. Get up and get out."

"I am too tired to even move…" He weakly gestured with his hand. "Can I..uh…spend the night here?"

"…" I was by no means a nice person. I was selfish, I enjoyed making people suffer, I enjoyed taking advantage of others when I can. "Fine…" I lifted Jaune Arc off the floor and placed him on my bed. "You're buying breakfast tomorrow and we're going to be doing this again." That didn't mean I couldn't be a nice guy every now and again. And besides, this made for slightly more time to work on his strength.

"Thanks Euca...good night."

"Can it Arc and get some rest." I made my way downstairs. "And good night…"

I closed the shop's doors and turned off all the lights before retreating into the Workshop with one resolute thought.

I was not a tsundere.


	7. I'm HALPING 2

I was honestly not expecting this much positive feedback when I first started. Thank you all.

* * *

60 days before Beacon.

 **[Congratulations! You have reached Level 15!]**

 **[As a reward for surviving this long you get a Gacha Cube!]**

I toyed with the small glowing white cube on one of the Workshop tables as I thought about the past few days and allocated more points to STR, VIT, and LUK.

I had gained an unexpected roommate in the form of Jaune Arc over the course of a the past few days, mostly due to the fact that I was using him as a glorified punching bag, and who could blame me? Despite his general lack of backbone he could a beating or two. I was amazed that he could last a couple of hours under assault of hammer regular attacks.

His increased presence wasn't exactly unwelcome. It felt kind of nice to have company for a change instead of my inane ramblings, mobs of the Instant Dungeon, darkness, and the regularly occurring customer. Plus I have him buying breakfast for both of us while I just lounge in my Workshop or sleep a few extra minutes in bed. Less work for me overall.

I had taken to experimenting more on my new gamer stuff as well. As I have discovered, Merchants, while impressive, have a relatively weak start but make up for it with the ability to provide for companions with equipment, lien, and further down the road, bonus XP…of course I could be selfish and hog everything while selling stuff for a profit.

What made me proud of my Class decision was the fact that the Class Advancements were amazing compared to the others.

 **[Class Advancements]**

 **[Level 20 Only]**

 **[Blacksmith]**

 **[Allows for the creation of higher tier equipment.]**

 **[Potioneer]**

 **[Allows for the creation of higher tier potions and the ability to select potions to brew.]**

 **[Level 35 Only]**

 **[Magesmith]**

 **[?]**

 **[Alchemist]**

 **[?]**

I should really figure out how to make potions soon. They sound like they could help me…I mean others a ton.

I heard weak grunting from outside my Workshop and peeked outside I had doubled the box weights again and we were making a lot of progress now. Jaune was having some trouble with moving the boxes but that was understandable, his body was probably still tired out from me hammering out some stuff.

'Observe.'

 **[Jaune Arc Lvl10]**

 **[Hunter Candidate]**

 **[1100/1100 HP]**

 **[15000/15000 AP]**

I noted the change from 'Hunter Wannabe' into 'Hunter Candidate' and felt a bit proud of myself.

Closing the door I readied myself for another trip into the world of Instant Dungeons.

"ID Create." The world fell away once more and I left today's adventure into the hands of fate.

* * *

Ghosts.

GHOSTS.

FUCKING GHOSTS.

 **[Miss]**

 **[Miss]**

 **[Miss]**

Normally I had a lot of patience for things. While I couldn't exactly consider myself a patient man I at least I wasn't easily bothered.

 **[Miss]**

But somehow, the Spirit Dungeon and the many ghosts that were laughing at me every time I swung at them managed to make it the most annoying thing I could even try to handle.

 **[Miss]**

"You know what. Fuck all of you." I finally had enough and used ID Escape before I lost my mind trying to hit something that phased through your attacks.

I found myself back at the workshop and relaxed into a chair with a groan. I was not going back there again without some other form of attack.

* * *

58 days left before Beacon.

 **[Through action you have gained a new skill!]**

 **[Potion Brewing Lvl1]**

 **[Brew a random potion. Consumes material/s. Requires any container Item.]**

"Mwehehehe…HaHAHAHAHAHA! YES! YEEES! YEEEEEEES." I laughed maniacally as stared excitedly into the bubbling pink concoction in a glass jar. It looked very impressive for what basically amounted to crushed Crystal Shards and water. "YE-"

Knocking interrupted my cheering. I set the bubbling liquid down and cleared my throat. I opened the Workshop door slightly and peered out the crack. It was Jaune and he looked worried about something.

"Yes?" I asked as I opened the door some more.

"Are you alright in there? You were getting kinda loud."

"Yeah, I just finally figured out how to make something…it's uh...it's soda!"

"Oh! Can I taste?"

"…hang on a minute." I closed the door momentarily and quickly used Observe on the potion.

 **[Observe has levelled up!]**

 **[? Potion]**

 **[? +?AGI, +?LUK, +?DEX, +?INT, -?VIT, -?STR]**

I mentally weighed the options in my head. On one hand, I could give it to him and be safe from its effects. On the other hand, what if it did something weird and I would have been better off drinking it myself?

I looked between the door and the potion before I finally shrugged and opened the door.

'Eh, why not? I mean it's not like it was going to kill him. I kinda want to know what'll happen to him.'

"Here you go!" I said as I placed the jar of 'soda' into Jaune's hands. "Drink up Arc and then get back to work!"

I nervously watched Jaune Arc down the potion in one go.

"Mmm...cherry." He said after drinking the last drop of the potion in one go. I used Observe on him to see if the potion did anything. "Thanks Euca! That was pretty good! I'll get back to work now." He moved to go back to cleaning the shop, like I had told him to earlier.

"Arc wait!" He froze in place. "Do you feel anything different?" I kept Observe on him and watched for any changes. I noted that I could see his Stats now.

 **[Jaune Arc]**

 **[Hunter Candidate]**

 **[Level:10]**

 **[Class: Knight]**

 **[HP:1100/1100]**

 **[AP:15000]**

 **[STR:15]**

 **[VIT:25]**

 **[DEX:2]**

 **[AGI:8]**

 **[INT:12]**

 **[LUK:7]**

 **[EXP: 631/1000]**

 **[Points:0]**

 **[Lien: 1130]**

"Different?" He asked and thought for a while. "No, I feel energized though, I think you put too much sugar in your soda."

"…right." I relaxed. "Arc you missed the corner over there, go clean it up." He gave me a mock salute before picking up the broom that was leaning on the wall. "Also you can sleep on my bed tonight, I'll be working all night in here."

"Got it, thanks Euca." I gave him one last Observe before retreating into the Workshop.

"Alright, so that potion was a dud, thank LUK." I relaxed onto the chair. "I don't know what I would've done if It had done something weird." I sighed. "Right, tomorrow I'm looking for a dungeon with sand in it. Right now I think I need to lie down for a bit…"


	8. Messing Things Up

57 days before Beacon.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! EUCA!"

 **[You have rested on a desk! HP and AP partially restored! Stiff and Sleepy Debuff has been applied!]**

 **[Stiff: -75% AGI and DEX 10:00]**

 **[Sleepy: -20% INT 2:00]**

I woke to a sudden scream resonating throughout the shop followed by the sudden rapid loud footsteps and flurry of knocks at the Workshop door. The sudden nature of my awakening plus debuffs that came with sleeping on a desk made me grumpy.

'…I think I need some coffee today.' I had found out long ago that coffee did nothing for me but remove the Sleepy debuff. It was still soothing for me to have a warm drink, regardless of whether or not I needed it.

"Ugh…I should see about adding a bed in here, or a very comfy lounge chair." I grumbled, pushing myself off of the desk and stretching my limbs before opening the door and leaving the Workshop. "Arc! What's the big idea causing a ru-" I began before I realized that it wasn't Jaune who was knocking at my door.

Instead it was a very pretty girl, slightly shorter than me, with straight blonde hair that went just beyond her neck. I also noted that she was wearing Jaune's clothes and they were too big for her.

"Oh uh…Arc isn't supposed to have guests over miss..." I began awkwardly. "Arc! This is a shop! Not a hotel! Tell your sister or your friend or girlfriend to leave! You better not have done anything on my be-"

"Euca! It's me! Jaune!" My mind halted before I quickly used observe on her.

 **[Joan Arc Lvl20]**

 **[Hunter Student]**

'Oh.'

 **[You have identified a new potion!]**

 **[Heroine Potion]**

 **[Permanently turns the drinker into a Heroine. Applies overnight. +4 AGI, +4 LUK, +4 DEX, +4 INT, -2VIT, -2 STR]**

 **[0.0009% Chance of being brewed using Potion Brewing.]**

'Oooooooooooooh…well fuck this is my fault isn't it.'

 **[Achievement Unlocked! Cannon No Longer]**

 **[Mess with the original story line.]**

'Shut up.'

* * *

There were many things I didn't like dealing with, head among them were the consequences of my actions, people who needed my help specifically, and interrupting my source of income. Yet somehow, I had managed to put myself in a situation involving all three since dealing with the now female Arc involved me not opening the shop for business.

"Alright, so let me get this straight." We had moved back upstairs and we were both sitting on the floor. I had helped Jaune…er…Joan…I had helped Joan up and wrapped my bed's blanket around her in an attempt at a comforting gesture. "You are Arc."

She nodded.

"The same Arc that has been my employee for quite some time now." She nodded again.

"The same Arc that snores all night."

"I don't snore!" She protested. "You're the one snoring!"

"Sure, also magic is a thing, young women with the powers of nature exist, a wizard did it, and my life is a video game." I said dismissively. "So now you wake up one day and suddenly you're a girl." I sighed. "You know if I were anyone else I'd say you were crazy, or think this was a prank, or ask you to leave, or all of the above."

"I'm not crazy Euca! Please you have to believe me." She pleaded, discarding the blanket and grabbing me by the shirt.

"Relax, I said if I were anyone else." She calmed down. "Unfortunately…uh…this is kind of hard for me to say but…this is kind of my fault…"

"…What."

"Yeah, uh, you remember the soda I gave you yesterday?" I was met with silence which I took as a cue for me to continue. "It wasn't soda. It was…well I'll have to tell you things that you aren't meant to know first…Arc? Are you listening?" She wasn't responding. "Arc? Jaune? Jaune friend? Ehrm…Joan?"

"Why would you do this to me?!" She cried out, suddenly shaking me frantically. "Were you planning on turning me into a girl from the start?!"

"I wasn't! I didn't know what the drink would do so I figured what was the harm in giving to you! It wasn't going to kill you!"

"Fix this! Turn me back to normal!"

"I can't!"

"…What do you mean you can't?!" She demanded angrily, I looked away by tuning my head to the side.

"I can't undo this, I don't know how to, and honestly I don't even know if I can…" There was silence once more and I felt her let go of me. Then I heard sniffling and I made the mistake of looking back.

There were a few things that rivalled my love of money and the way it drove me into action sometimes and that was seeing girls cry, even if said girl wasn't originally one in the first place, especially if it was because of me.

"What am I going to do now ?" I heard her whisper while crying.

'Damn it. Damn IT. DAMN IT.' I was severely going to regret getting more involved in this world than I already was. It looked like I was going to have to take a more hands on approach to this. All I had planned for my stay here was to get strong, get rich, get in a fight or two, profit, and live peacefully. It might've be selfish of me but I had no obligation to play hero, to be the good guy, nor did I want to change anything. It was how this world was meant to be and I had already gone and changed something.

'You know what? Fine, in for a penny in for a pound. I'm gonna change all the things!'

Slowly my arms wrapped around Jaune. "Hey, it's alright, look I'm sorry that I caused this…" I forced the next words out of my mouth. "I promise I'll help you out with anything you need, okay so just stop crying."

"T-thank you Euca…I still hate you for doing this to me but thanks…"

"You're welcome Jaune…now you some rest, you get the day off since I'll be closing the shop for today, I'll go buy some food and then we'll talk about your plans for the future." While I made mine.


	9. Being Nicer Is Subjective

**[The Game has been patched!]**

 **[Potion Brewing no longer random. Now depends on materials consumed.]**

* * *

"Let's get down to business." I began my discussion with Jaune. It had been a few hours and she had calmed down, which was impressive due to the fact that I had just basically drastically altered his physicality with no permission. She was sitting on the bad while I was pacing the room.

"You should put some chairs and tables up here so we don't have to keep sitting on the floor to eat." Boxes that once held food in them lay scattered between us. We had just finished eating a late breakfast and I haven't had the chance to clean up.

"And on that note, I'm glad to see you're feeling better." I stopped pacing.

"Well…I'm stuck like this for probably forever because of you…" She began uncomfortably and slightly angry. "So I figured I should get used to this…"

"Good, because I swear if I have to deal with you crying again I'm locking you in the Workshop until you stop." That earned me a glare and I chuckled. "Oh would you relax, I'm not actually going to do it."

'No because I'd either kick you out since you aren't drawing in any money for me at all or find a way to throw you into the Ant Instant Dungeon…heh…Ant Instant Dungeon, InstANT Dungeon…'

"So how did you do this to me? You said it was that drink you gave me last night…"

"I'll tell you more about that later." I started once more. "Let's start with what you plan to do. I remember from when we first met that you were heading for Beacon but got here early. Do you still want to go to Beacon?"

"I do, but how am I supposed to get in now?"

"I don't know? How do you usually get into Beacon?"

"…Why don't you know?!"

"Jaune, I'm a shopkeeper, not a Hunter wannabe. I don't know what Hunters or student Hunters are up to outside of my shop. So excuse me for not caring, now, explain." I paused for a moment. "Oh excuse me, I meant Huntsmen."

"Well…uh…I just sent in my transcripts." She explained.

"And?" I tapped my foot impatiently.

"Uh…that's it."

"That's it?" She nodded. "Oh, well this should be easy then..."

* * *

 **[Through action a new skill has been created! ]**

 **[Voice Mimic Lvl1]**

 **[Mimic a person's voice to the best of your abilities. 25% Chance of failure.]**

Jaune watched me with jaw agape as I smoothed over some final details over the phone, well not phone, it was a Scroll, using her voice.

"There we go." I said proudly as I pocketed the Scroll. It had taken some time to find a place that sold me a Scroll and some more to figure out how to contact Beacon. "You're previous error of registering wrongly has been corrected, try not to do it again." I declared smugly as I walked away from her.

"How did you do that? You sounded exactly like me!"

"I wouldn't say exactly, I'd say it's pretty close though." I corrected her. "And as for your question, well, I am a man of many talents and abilities."

'Though I really can't see myself levelling Voice Mimic all that much.' I thought before suddenly struck with an idea. 'Wait, could I mimic some singer's voice and put it into discs to sell? There's an idea.'

"Now are you ready Jaune Arc?!" I said suddenly whirling around dramatically spread my arms with a slow sweeping motion.

"What are you doing?" She asked suddenly backing up.

"For what I am about to show you what could possibly be one of the world's greatest secrets!" I continued, ignoring her. "And the reason why you are as you are now!" I saw her focus on me.

I posed dramatically. "Invite Jaune Arc to Party!" I declared.

Silence reigned as I waited excitedly for something to happen.

"Uhh…was something supposed to happen?" She asked before I shushed her.

"Wait for it…"

"I'm…uh…I'm just going to go now…" She began to slowly move away from me and towards the stairs.

"Hmm…I swear that would've worked…" I thought for a while before snapping my fingers. "Oh yeah! Create Party!"

 **[You have created a party!]**

 **[What would you like to name this party?]**

'Training Party.' I thought.

 **[Training Party party Created!]**

"Now!" I boomed after facing Jaune once more. "Prepare yourself for what is possibly one of this world's greatest secrets! Invite Jaune Arc to Party!"

There was more silence as I thought about what I could be doing wrong. Then I realized it, the Game registers her under a different name.

"Of course! That's what I was doing wrong." I pointed at Jaune, who was now close to the stairs. "Now Arc, prepare yourself yada yada yada you get the idea! Invite Joan Arc to Party! Really ruining my moment here…" I muttered the last part under my breath.

I watched proudly as finally a screen popped up in front of Jaune, startling her for a moment. I struggled for a bit to read what was on it.

 **[Euca Vinmoor has invited you to Training Party! Do you accept?]**

 **[Yes/No]**

 **[Through action you have created a new skill!]**

 **[Backwards Reading Lvl1]**

 **[Be able to read text backwards with some struggle.]**

"Wha-what is this?" She asked, surprised at the set of floating text in front of her.

"This, Jaune Arc, is how we're going to get you ready for Beacon." I declared. I saw her right hand hesitantly move towards the 'Yes'. "Go on, don't be afraid." I encouraged her until she finally pressed the button. The message box disappeared and I knew that she could see what I could. The numbers, the values, and the names. Our levels, our HP and AP, and our names.

It was a glorious moment for me as she looked at me in awe for a few seconds.

"Jaune Arc, behold my power." I said dramatically. "Behold for to me life is but a game."

"Why is my level higher than yours?" She finally said after a few moments of silence.

"Uh…well that is to say…" I stammered, embarrassed that she had pointed that out.

"Why is my HP so much higher than yours?"

"…You know what I don't need this." I said with a huff. "To put it simply, to me life is a game. I mean it's a great game and all, the graphics are nice and the gameplay is decent but the respawn timer is atrocious." She looked at me with a confused look. "It's an inside joke, don't pay it any mind. Prepare yourself Arc, for tomorrow I will be actively helping you get ready for Beacon."

* * *

"Haaaaah…" I let out a long sigh, savouring the peace. "Isn't this nice Arc?" I asked as I used Break Down on some glowing crystals. "It's nice that we can take a break despite you having 56 days left before leaving to Beacon."

I could hear screaming and the sound of many large insects, ants specifically, following something.

"I'm glad you agree." I began to hum as I peacefully harvested more crystals for future use.

"HELP ME!" I heard her yell and turned to face her. She was being assaulted by the Big Ant Horde and it didn't look like she was fighting back despite having Crocea Mors in hand and shield unfolded.

"You can do it, come on, is this all a future Beacon student can do?" I asked, slowly sorting through my Inventory as I sauntered towards her.

"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO FIGHT!"

"Don't know how to fight? You have a sword and shield! Use them!"

"HOW?"

"Do I look like a combat teacher to you? Figure it out!" I yelled back as I began to collect more Crystal Shards. "Hit them with the sharp parts of your sword Arc! Don't forget that you have a shield!" I finally advised after a few minutes.

I hummed a merry tune as the screaming was replaced by the sound of steel going through insect after insect, each one giving off a short high pitched squeal as it died. It was satisfying to hear death after death after death, but not as satisfying as getting free XP from being in a party with Jaune and having her do all the heavy lifting for me.

Half an hour later I was a level higher at a lot happier.

"Well now, that wasn't too bad was it Joan?" I commented. "Boy you weren't kidding when you said you didn't know how to fight."

 **[Joan Arc Lvl20]**

 **[Unlucky Heroine]**

 **[594/1200 HP]**

"Don't call me that…" She panted. She looked tired but she seemed to have mustered enough energy to glare at me. "You dick…"

"Well I prefer 'well-meaning narcissist' over 'dick' but sure." I put one of her arms on my shoulders and gently lifted her up. "Let's get you some rest. We won't do this every day but when we do I expect you to have at least improved a bit every time." With those last words I used ID Escape and brought us back into the shop where I helped her up to the second floor and left her on my bed.

I opened the shop late and manned the counter where I began to experiment with the Crystal Shards and put more points into my Stats.

 **[Euca Vinmoor]**

 **[Shopkeeper]**

 **[Level:16]**

 **[Class: Merchant]**

 **[HP: 358]**

 **[AP:3680]**

 **[STR:30+2]**

 **[VIT:25+2]**

 **[DEX:15]**

 **[AGI:11-2]**

 **[INT:14+5]**

 **[LUK:35]**

 **[EXP: 100/1600]**

 **[Points:0]**

 **[Lien: 20832]**

I placed all the Crytal Shards on the counter used Item Crafting on it, picturing what I wanted.

 **[Item Crafting has levelled up!]**

Now sitting on the counter was a transparent crystalline flask. I picked it up and rotated it before using Observe on it.

 **[Crystal Flask]**

 **[A container for potions only. Does not break outside of combat.]**

"Wonderful. Potion Brewing."

A viscous amber liquid slowly filled the flask and I watched as more Crystals Shards disappeared. When it finished filling up I used observe on it.

 **[Shiny Coating]**

 **[Apply to item. Makes item shiny and increases durability.]**

"Well that's nice." I put away the flask into my inventory. I put on a smile as I heard the doors open.

"Welcome to Moor Items. What can I help you with?" I greeted the nondescript and totally normal customers.

I spent the rest of the day minding the shop by myself.

* * *

51 days left before Beacon

"Steadily improving Joan, good job. You now know which side of the shield you're supposed to be on." I complimented her as she took down another Knight. We were in the Knight Dungeon so she could have some experience against human combatants…heh, combatANTS. That and she pretty much promised that she would scare off customers if I brought her into the Ant Dungeon again without helping her.

"Would you stop calling me Joan!" She yelled back at me.

"Mmm…yeah nooo…" A Knight went flying towards me. I equipped my Charging Shield and used Deflect, sending the knight flying to the side. "Watch it, I don't have as much HP as you." I warned.

"Then stop calling me Joan!" She yelled back. And brutalized another poor Knight.

"Fine, I'll stop. But then you're going to Beacon like that, wouldn't people find it strange that you keep insisting that your name isn't the same as the one on your transcripts? So like it or not you're going to have to get used to the name." I sighed. "Hey save me some of the action!" I brought out my hammer and used Reckless Charge, crashing into one Knight and pinning him into the wall.

I had to at least make it look like I was putting an effort into this don't I?

* * *

49 days before Beacon

"Hmm…" I stared intently at Joan, her protests on using that name were slowly dwindling. She was sorting the various weapons I had on sale. Surprisingly very few bought the weapons and the ones that did bought the decoration ones, which was fine with me.

"Why are you staring at me?" Ah, she caught me.

"Hmm nothing, I'm just thinking…" I straightened up. "Yo Joan! Come over here for a bit." She stopped what she was doing and came over to me.

"What is it Euca?" I eyed her up and down.

"Don't move." I commanded before entering the Workshop. Moments later I came out carrying a large metal box. "Ok go ahead, open it."

She slowly opened the box and gasped as she saw its contents. She gently pulled out the Noble Knight Armor, only I had to slightly modify it by breaking it down and using Item Crafting again with less material. I had even gone through the extra effort of applying Shiny Coating to it.

"Like it?" I said as she donned the armour. "I figured I might as well give it to you now as an apology...still hate me?"

"Not as much anymore…I…thank you Euca."

"Don't mention it, we're gonna be putting that to good use tomorrow."

"For what?"

"We're gonna go do the Grimm Dungeon."


	10. We Book It

**[You have rested on a bed! HP and AP have been fully restored! All debuffs have been removed]**

"Alright Joan!" I yelled out, suddenly grasping the poor ex-boy girl's sleeping bag and yanking suddenly. Like those magician's tricks where they pull the tablecloth without disturbing the plates, cutlery, and other decorations on the table the sleeping bad was removed with no trouble.

"Ow!" However, unlike those magician's tricks I had managed to make Joan hit her head on the floor. "Why do you do this to me?" I heard her complain.

"Ah Joan, there are many reasons I many things, particularly for you the reason would be fun, amusement, and because I want to." I explained with a grin. "Now come on! The shop's opening late today, as much as it pains me to do so, and I've already brought us breakfast!" I held up a paper bag that smelled wonderful and felt warm to the touch.

Joan, looking bedraggled, groaned and weakly lifted herself off of the ground before shuffling towards the bathroom.

"The water isn't working again!" She called out.

"It is, just give it a moment!' I called back. Once I heard the sound of running water I made my way to sit on my usual spot on the floor. Several minutes later she was sitting across me already opening her bag.

"You know…" I began hesitantly. "I can't help but notice that most of your clothes don't are too big for you now." She looked up from her bag.

"And whose fault is that exactly?" She replied.

"I know, I know. You want me to do anything about that?" She nodded. "Alright, I'll get to it when I figure out how."

* * *

"Wow…this is different…" I breathed out, we had appeared in the middle of a poorly lit empty street,

One of the many things that I had liked about the Instant Dungeons was the unique environment it presented me. The Knights and their castle, the Ants and their underground cavern, the Slime and their plains, and the Spirits and their marsh…or swamp…or bog. The Beowolf Grimm dungeon seemed to be set in a ruined Vale, a sight that while foreboding was surely majestic in its own way. Cracked roads, crumbling buildings, a dark night sky, and the scant amount of still functioning lamp posts painted a…dare I say…grim world to be in.

"You can say that again…" I heard Joan mutter next to me.

"Okay, so now that you have some experience fighting other humans, you can work on that in Beacon because that's what a school is for, we can move on to the enemies of humanity. The Grimm."

As if on cue the howling of several Beowolves filled the air. Joan readied herself by unsheathing Crocea Mors and unfolding her shield from its sheath form. I let out a chuckle as I saw several notifications pop up.

 **[Through action you have gained a new skill!]**

 **[Detect Bloodlust Lvl1]**

 **[Passively detect entities that intend to do harm.]**

 **[Detect Bloodlust has levelled up]**

 **[Detect Bloodlust has levelled up]**

 **[Detect Bloodlust has levelled up]**

 **[Detect Bloodlust has levelled up]**

'Boy, there are sure a lot of Grimm.'

"Here's what you need to know about Grimm." I began before I suddenly used Reckless Charge into a Beowolf that was turning the corner and quickly killed it with a few placed hammer strikes to the head. "There will be no talking to them, no bantering." I hefted my hammer onto my shoulder and quickly looked back at her. "No pleading for mercy or any surrender…only life or death, there is no middle ground here, you will fight them and you will kill them." I began to walk back to her, moving slowly and lowering my guard.

 **[Item Get! Bone Mask Shards x3]**

"The Grimm are beasts, monsters, some creepy unholy love child between animal, nightmare, and a skeleton for good measure and yes you can quote me on that one. They kill people regardless of who they are. You are people ergo they will try to kill you too." I stopped in front of her.

"A Huntsman's, or in your case Huntress', job basically boils down to three things and in order of priority it's save people, hit things, and don't die."

"Now. I don't want to hear something about you dying so try not to go into fights unprepared ok?" I whistled sharply, gaining the attention of nearby Beowolves. I could feel many eyes gaze at me, making me shudder for a bit.

"That being said…" I gave Joan a strong shove towards the pack of Beowolves, grinning when I heard a sudden squeak. "Have fun!"

* * *

"How's the armour holding up Joan?" I yelled, pushing a Beowolf off of me and quickly rolling aside to dodge a claw.

Silence met my question.

"Joan?"

"I'm busy here!" I hid behind my shield and turned towards her direction.

 **[Joan Arc]**

 **[Unlucky Heroine]**

 **[923/1320 HP]**

I watched her stab a Beowolf with her sword and made it dissipate.

"Joan! Armour!" I pressed.

"FINE! It's doing fine!" She yelled at me.

"Yeesh, calm down would you. Nature's Blessing." She flashed green for a moment, signifying that she had been healed. I then reached for my hammer and bashed its head in.

 **[-55 HP]**

I had gotten distracted and allowed an opening to be made, I glanced down where a claw had struck me before looking up and grinning.

"Oh, now it's on." I wildly threw myself into the pack with a manic smile. My hand tightly gripping the handle of my weapon as I swung, again and again. I struck Beowolves on the head, on the chest, on one of their exposed limbs, enjoying the satisfying feeling of a heavy weight sinking into flesh and the sound of cracking bone. I idly noted that I had levelled up as well. Finally my hammer met resistance and I couldn't help but look up at what was possibly the biggest Beowolf I had ever seen. It was also growling at me as I slowly removed my hammer from its neck.

 **[Alpha Beowolf Lvl 30]**

 **[452/500 HP]**

"…who's a good boy?"

No matter how much Joan might say that my voice squeaked during this part I will vehemently deny it.

* * *

"Bad boy! Sit! Stay! Heel! Roll over!" I yelled as I sprinted away from the Alpha Beowolf to the best of my ability, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.

 **[Sprint has levelled up!]**

'Not helping game!'

"Get us out of here!" Joan yelled as she kept up with me.

"Oh but where would be the fun in that?" I replied. "Just face it head on! Shouldn't be a problem for you!"

"Euca!"

"Fine! Spoil the fun. ID Escape." The world fell away before we reappeared in the second floor of the shop. "Well that's been fun. I'll go open the shop now…"

* * *

Normally I wasn't much of a reader and for me going into a bookstore was a rare occurrence. I wasn't averse to learning I just had the habit of learning things when I need to, which was why I was heading over to Tukson's Book Trade to see if I could purchase some books I could need.

I entered the shop and was greeted with the sight of what could possibly be the largest amount of books I would endeavour to see personally in my lifetime.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade! Home to every book under the sun! How may I help you?" I looked at the owner, who I knew to be Tukson. Naturally I knew about his secret and his apparent fate…

 **[Tukson Lvl45]**

 **[?/? HP]**

"…You say that every time someone comes in, don't you?" I received a nod. "Thought so, I'm looking for books about weapons and combat, I have a friend who's going to Beacon so I figured I'd get her some presents."

"It's over to the side."

"Thanks…oh and…um…are there books about clothes? Making or altering…"

By the end of my trip I was carrying a small stack of books that had torn out a decent 2000 Lien from my savings. I didn't find it heavy, with the Merchant Class basically letting me ignore carrying weight for items, of course. The books were actually for Joan so she didn't look like a fool but a few were actually skill books for me.

 **[Skill Book: Weapons Mastery]**

 **[Skill Book: Basics Of Dust]**

 **[Skill Book: Aura and Semblances, What Are They?]**

 **[Skill Book: Tailoring For Dunces]**

 **[Skill Book: Repair]**

I think I'll learn Tailoring first and the rest tomorrow…

 **[Tailoring]**

 **[Alter clothes outside of combat. Uses Materials Or Lien]**

* * *

"…what did you do?" Joan asked me.

I had actually gone with making a table and putting it upstairs so we no longer had to sit on the floor every time.

"I made a table Joan. Oh, the books over there are yours, I'd like that you at least start reading them before Beacon."

"That's not what I meant." She gestured to the messy pile of her old clothes, or at least what was once her old clothes. Now they were undeniably new clothes that looked like her old ones, only that they were adjusted for her body type and a very bright pink in colour.

"Oh, well I did say I was going to do something about your clothes once I figured out how." I said before returning to altering clothes.

"I get that, but why are they all pink?"

"Because it's hilarious, don't worry, I got a skill that lets me freely alter clothes out of combat so I can reset them to their original colours later." She rolled her eyes as I turned the clothes she was wearing pink.

"Fine… "

"By the way, I can't do anything about your underwear so you have to go get some of your own tomorrow…I even bought a book to help you and buying it was embarrassing to me and I hope it's embarrassing to you too."

And with that, her reddened cheeks and embarrassed stammering made my evening great.


	11. Mint and Cookies

I had forgotten about the Gacha Cube. No that isn't actually true, I had deliberately ignored the Gacha Cube due to how my situation had been over the past few days. Now that everything was a lot more stable, relatively speaking, I now had the place to myself since Joan had gone out to buy underwear, I still snicker at the thought. I figured that I had a good few hours to both use the Gacha Cube and deal with anything from it.

"What I wouldn't do for some rain right now…" I commented. The midday sun was bearing down on the streets, making things uncomfortably bright and hot.

I rolled the Cube onto the Workshop table one last time as if it were a dice before finally poking it on one side. It began to spin rapidly and blink and I cautiously backed away from the glowing cube of possibilities. Then the Workshop was engulfed in a bright light.

"Hiiiiii~" What was that? I quickly rubbed the blindness out of my eyes.

"…A floating…helmet?" I goggled at the sight of a floating knight helmet with green light blasting through the gaps.

 **[You got unlucky! You get a familiar!]**

'Oh god how is this unlucky?' I thought as I dismissed the notification by wildly waving my hand through it.

"No silly!" The helmet flew to the side and bounced off of a wall before clattering harmlessly on the floor. "I'm a fairy!"

'I think I would have preferred the floating helmet.'

Fairy was right. I couldn't think of any other tiny sparkly humanoid with wings. She also had green hair that reached beyond her back and was wearing a tiny dress made of leaves and tiny flowers. I used Observe on her.

 **[Mint(Familiar) Lvl1]**

 **[1/1 HP]**

"You're…you're very fragile." I commented after giving her stats a short glance. Aside from the high intelligence she didn't look like anything special. Still, why this was considered unlucky I didn't know.

"Well, what did you expect? I'm a tiny fairy!" Well, she was right…I didn't know how much HP a fairy would normally have so I guess that this is normal.

"Alright then… So, what can fairies do?"

"Fairies!" She began, puffing her tiny chest out in pride. "Are the best partners you can get!"

'Eh, I think that spot is reserved for something else, maybe a dragon or a kraken…or an actual human or Faunus…'

"We can do some minor healing, make shields, and make the people stronger by a little bit." She was sparkling a little bit. "Fairies are considered to be a warrior's best friend!"

"Yeah…no I'm not a warrior…" I spoke up, making her freeze suddenly.

"A mage then! That's fine, I can be plenty of help to a mage like you."

"I'm a merchant."

"…what?"

"I'm a merchant." I repeated. "A shop having, item selling merchant."

Mint dropped onto the floor bawling.

'…again with the crying…' I thought before bending down and scooping her up.

"There there, it's alright no need to cry…" I said comfortingly.

"I got summoned by a merchant! It's not alright! Merchants are useless!" I felt an eyebrow twitch in annoyance. "What about all the bloodshed and carnage? I want blood and people suffering!"

"…I'm starting to see why you count as unlucky…" I felt incredulous at the fact that there was such a thing as a bloodthirsty fairy. A crybaby bloodthirsty fairy. It was a shame that she looked as adorable as she did.

"Would you calm down, I get into fights sometimes and am probably going to get into more so you'll get your share of pain…" She immediately perked up and busied herself into trying to fully embrace my arm cheering all the way…

Somehow I just felt that she was going to cause me a lot of trouble in the future.

* * *

Mint had made herself comfortable under the counter, in one of the drawers. Me, being nice, helped a little bit by making tiny furniture. If these metal things didn't sell well in the future I could always make a profit out of making dollhouses.

I picked up one of the skill books I had bought and the notification popped up.

 **[Would you like to learn Weapon Mastery?]**

'Yes.'

 **[You have learned the skill: Weapon Mastery]**

 **[Weapon Mastery Lvl1]**

 **[Increase weapon damage by 1%]**

I figured that gaining mastery wouldn't be easy but only a 1% increase? Difficult was brutal.

I picked up the next book and did the same.

 **[Repair]**

 **[Repair items. Consumes material or Lien.]**

I noted that it wasn't locked for out of combat. I moved towards the cracked shop windows and used Repair on it. I cackled madly as I watched the glass repair, making the window as good a new. Then I took it to its next logical step and used Repair on the entire building and watched as it consumed almost all of my money.

Now what was once a shop in a barely inhabitable abandoned building now looked like it was newly constructed.

Turning my attention back to the last two books, one about Dust and one about Aura. I picked up the Aura book first and learned it.

 **[Aura Barrier]**

 **[Receive damage in Aura until it is depleted.]**

 **[Aura Strike Lvl1]**

 **[Increase damage of next attack by 10% and increases impact radius.]**

 **[Unlock Aura]**

 **[Unlocks the Aura of a person.]**

Despite having an Aura pool I actually haven't been using Aura aside from the costs for Reckless Charge and Hardened Strike, with the two being my only combat oriented abilities. I was curious what 'increases impact radius' meant.

 **[Semblance: Locked]**

 **[Locked]**

'Hm, Semblance locked? That's ok I suppose, it's not like I'm going to be a Huntsman anyways, I'm just learning these things in case I get in a fight with someone.'

Finally, I picked up the last book, Basics Of Dust, and tried to learn it.

 **[Dust Arts]**

 **[Consumes Dust. Allows for the proper use of Dust in combat.]**

The ability was nice and certainly looked useful, it was too bad that I only learned it for the sake of knowing it since I neither had Dust or a weapon made for Dust, maybe I should try to make one soon.

"I'm back…" Joan called out as the shop door opened up.

"Ah welcome back Joan!" I greeted, eyeing the bag that she was carrying. "How was the store?"

"It was embarrassing!" She yelled. "The book you bought didn't help at all so I had to get some help from a clerk! Then…"

I tuned out the rest and instead took a deep breathe, as if enjoying the scent of suffering, which I was.

"What's with all the noise?" Mint suddenly spoke up, sleepily flying out of her drawer and turning to Joan. "Oh…Are you Master's girlfriend? I knew he couldn't be that pathetic."

We both sputtered incoherently in embarrassment, denying Mint's statement to the best of our ability before I grabbed her and stuffed her back into the drawer and kept it shut by keeping my hand on it.

Muffled screams of protest and the noise of Mint violently shaking the drawer filled the air.

'Besides I'm probably the last person she'd ever want as a boyfriend…'

"Euca who and what was that?" Joan asked, finally recovering. I was doing my best ignoring the heat on my own cheeks.

"That's Mint. She's a fairy I got, I warn you that she's…unique, to say the least…" I looked down to the drawer. "Mint I'm going to let you out now. Please don't do anything that embarrasses me or implies weird things." I slowly removed my hand from the drawer.

The drawer opened suddenly and Mint shot out, punching me on the cheek with the force of a hard tap.

"Don't do that again!" She huffed before settling down onto my shoulder. "Hi! I'm Mint! Nice to meet you Master's not girlfriend."

"It's nice to meet you Mint, I'm Joan. I used to be a guy until I met this jerk here." She pointed at me, Mint looked at me in wonder, probably amazed that I caused some suffering onto someone.

"Hey…that's actually pretty accurate…but it could have been a lot worse!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, for all we know if a Heroine Potion exists what's to say that a Maid Potion doesn't?"

"…You have a point…what's Mint doing?" She asked as Mint flittered around her.

She encircled her a few more times before finally stopping in front of Joan and nodding.

"Perfect! With the two of you the streets will flood with blood as I-HEY!" I grabbed her again and put her into a jar.

"Huh, never thought I'd see a violent fairy…" Joan said as she watched me put a lid with holes onto the jar. "Actually, never thought I'd see a fairy at all."

"Yeah, got unlucky with that one…" I put the jar on the counter. "So, notice anything about the shop?" I asked motioning to the entire floor.

"You fixed the first floor?" She said after looking around.

"No, I fixed the entire building!" I exclaimed.

"Everything?"

"Yup! Everything is working properly now!"

She ran up the stairs and a few moments later I heard the sound of the shower turning on, leaving behind the bag.

"Hey you left your bag!" I chuckled and followed her up the stairs, bringing the bag along.

I remembered that I had levelled up yesterday and brought up my Status window to put more points into STR, VIT, and LUK as I sat down on the bed.

 **[Euca Vinmoor]**

 **[Level:19]**

 **[Class: Merchant]**

 **[HP: 406]**

 **[AP:4680]**

 **[STR:32+2]**

 **[VIT:33+2]**

 **[DEX:17]**

 **[AGI:15-2]**

 **[INT:15+5]**

 **[LUK:36]**

 **[EXP: 0/1900]**

 **[Points:0]**

 **[Lien: 604]**

The upcoming level was 20, and with it, my first Class Advancement. I had put off putting any thought into it but now that it was immediate I had no choice to but to think.

'I have two options.' I began to think. 'Blacksmith and Potioneer…each one lets me make better stuff...I'm good with the current level of potions I can make so I guess I'll take Blacksmith…then again, potions are very handy…' I threw my hands up in surrender. 'Fuck it, when the time comes I'll just flip a coin.'

"EUCA!" I looked up at Joan who had just left the shower and I immediately covered my eyes as I started blushing and blindly tossed the bag in her direction as I felt heat emanate from my cheeks.

"Why would you go out with barely anything on!" I yelled.

"I thought you went downstairs already!" She yelled back. I quickly muttered an apology before trying to make my way downstairs.

 **[-10 AP]**

And failing.

'…I did _not_ just find her attractive.' I thought to myself as I picked myself up off of the ground. I looked over to the counter and found Mint laughing at me. Growling, I picked up the jar and gave it a few good shakes before unscrewing the lid and dumping a dizzy fairy into her drawer.

'That should put her out of commission for a while.' I thought.

I heard the door open.

"Welcome to Moor Items! Whaddaya need buddy?" I greeted almost immediately.

 **[Ruby Rose Lvl23]**

 **[The Red Reaper]**

 **[1500/1500 HP]**

"Nothing! Just browsing!" She said before moving on to inspect the weapon shelves.

'Holy shit, Ruby Rose is in my shop.' I inwardly celebrated as imaginary waterworks exploded around me. Not fireworks, those were loud and distracting.

"I see you like my weapons young miss." I called out.

"You made these?" I nodded. "Some of my teachers from Signal buy the weapons here for practice. They're very strong and I've seen them break other weapons." I was inwardly amazed that they could do that.

"I don't believe we've met, Euca Vinmoor, owner of Moor Items and maker of some cool stuff." I held out my hand.

"Ruby Rose, Student at Signal Academy." She shook my hand.

"A future Huntress then! So, what do you think of my wares?"

"I think they're awesome! Do you have any other weapons other than the ones there?" She asked excitedly. I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head.

"What other weapons do you have in mind Miss Rose?" It was then she whipped out her own weapon. Crescent Rose, in all its glory. No matter how cool it looked when I saw it the first time the fact that I'm seeing it in real life added a sense of coolness. I couldn't help but use Observe on it.

 **[Crescent Rose]**

 **[A hybrid of a scythe and a sniper rifle. Wielded by Ruby Rose in a very effective manner.]**

"Impressive Miss Rose, a scythe and a sniper rifle, a finely made weapon." I said after spending a few moments faking appraisal. She beamed at the compliment.

"Thanks, her name's Crescent Rose."

"An elegant name for an elegant weapon. I assume you made her?" She nodded. "I thought so. Sadly I only have one and it's under repair, I had a bit of accident with it." I lied. "Tell you what, you come back tomorrow and I'll show you my little project."

I waved goodbye as she left my shop, promising that she'll be back tomorrow.

Looks like I was going Blacksmith after all.

* * *

It brings me great pleasure to make and post new chapters of this. I even know at least 10% of what I'm doing now!


	12. Thorish Tendencies

EDIT: I changed the last part since I really hated it.

I'm all for romance and all but I was very uncomfortable on how the previous version went.

* * *

"Hey!" I called as I stared down the Alpha Beowolf from the top of a building. Mint was sitting down on a large heap of rubble as she watched me talk. We were in the Beowolf Dungeon so I could level up before tomorrow came.

"Master are you sure this is a good idea? Couldn't you pick on the smaller ones instead?" Mint asked me as I saw the Alpha notice and start to growl at me.

"Mint, this is the best idea." I said as I leaned over the edge. I brought out my warhammer and began backing away from the edge. "I'm going to jump off this building and land on the Alpha, letting gravity do all my work for me. Now, do you have anything that could make this a whole lot easier? Like a fairy thing to do or something" I asked.

"Hm…" She thought for a while. "I could give you a small shield…"

"That'd be very helpful." I watched as she motioned with her tiny hand and a translucent white barrier flickered into existence, engulfing my left arm up to my elbows like some sort of gauntlet. "Really?" I asked, slightly disappointed that it only covered my arm.

"Hey! You try doing stuff when you're level 1! I'm not yet that strong!" She huffed and crossed her arms. "But don't be mistaken! It may be small but my barriers are strong! Just you see!"

"Alright…I'll take your word for it…just put it somewhere else..." The barrier was moved onto my right leg. "That'll do." I activated Sprint and ran for the edge and jumped into the air with hammer held above me. Aura Strike and Hardened Strike activated simultaneously as I plummeted down onto the Alpha Beowolf, intent of killing it for its EXP.

It swatted me out of the air and into a building.

"Oh so that's how you want to play?" I stood up and grinned. "Bring it."

With a roar I charged with as much fervour I could muster as it lunged at me, pulling out my shield and using Deflect on an outstretched claw before burying my hammer, backed up by Aura Strike and Hardened Strike, neatly on its face, breaking the my Steel Warhammer in the process and sending it onto the ground.

I discarded what was now a metal rod and brought my shield down on its head and pummelled it until I was sure it was dead.

"See I told you it was a good idea." I said with a weak smile as I straightened up.

 **[Euca Vinmoor Lvl20]**

 **[Shopkeeper]**

 **[455/455 HP]**

 **[1200/5400 AP]**

"Good Idea! It was the best idea!" She cheered, noticeably enjoying things. I noticed she had gone up a couple levels.

 **[Mint(Familiar) Lvl3]**

 **[3/3 HP]**

'So she gets EXP when I do…'

"Come on, let's go home now…" I used ID Escape and set myself down on a workshop chair, watching Mint exit the workshop to probably go sleep in her drawer.

"I should really get around to making comfortable chairs in here…"

* * *

 **[You have rested on a desk! HP and AP partially restored! Stiff and Sleepy debuff has been applied!]**

I woke up to Mint gently nudging my head. I gave out a small groan as pushed myself up off of the desk and stretched. I exited the Workshop with a yawn. Then I remembered that Ruby was coming back later and despite being Sleepy it made me wake up.

After quickly scarfing down breakfast, which was once again, a hotdog and a cup of coffee, I locked myself inside the Workshop and put Joan in charge of the shop. I dumped the contents of my Inventory onto the table, mostly Metal Scraps, Crystal Shards, and Bone Mask Shards, before bringing up the Class Advancement Window.

 **[Class Advancement]**

 **[Level 20 Only]**

 **[Blacksmith]**

 **[Potioneer]**

My hand immediately pressed Blacksmith and the Potioneer option became greyed out.

Suddenly the Workshop expanded. The room suddenly became bigger and across from the door there was now a massive furnace.

 **[You are now a Blacksmith!]**

 **[The Workshop has been expanded! You can now use Furnace to combine materials!]**

 **[You can now create better weapons and armor!]**

I dismissed the notifications and stared at the Furnace in curiosity. Experimentally, I picked up the Metal Scraps and chucked it into the fire. When nothing happened I chucked even more metal until finally something popped out of the flames.

 **[Steel Bar]**

 **[Item Material]**

"Oh." I chucked more metal into the Furnace until it gave me another Steel Bar. "Oooooh!"

* * *

It was done. After spending half a day in the Workshop making a weapon, most of which was spent thinking about making a weapon, I had finally finished.

I held up the finished product with one hand. I had to borrow a few components from other machines but it was worth it in the end.

 **[Razor Heat]**

I held up the red custom chainsaw and let it glint in the Workshop's light. I almost dropped it when I heard knocking.

"Euca! There's someone here to see you!" I heard Joan say through the door.

"Yeah, I'm coming out!" I replied, putting the weapon on my back and opening the door. "Ah! Miss Rose! Glad to see you again!" I greeted Ruby, who was in front of the counter. "This is Joan, she's helping in the shop before she goes to Beacon. This is my roommate and employee."

"HI there, I'm Joan." She greeted with a smile.

"I'm Ruby. You work here huh? You must've seen so many weapons." She said enthusiastically.

"Not really, just my own and whatever Euca makes..." She admitted.

"Aw…" She looked disappointed then her eyes made her way to the weapon on my back and she squealed. "Is that?"

"It is." I confirmed. "Miss Rose, I'd like you to meet my partner in crime, Razor Heat." I put the chainsaw on the table to let her get a better look. Off to the side I saw Joan look surprised and I quickly mouthed 'play along' while Ruby was busy looking at the weapon.

"Can I hold him?" I nodded and she struggled to pick up the chainsaw. "Wow he's heavy." Joan moved to help her and they both lifted the weapon off of the counter. I saw Ruby slowly let go as she took a closer look at Bloody Jack.

"It's a chainsaw-flamethrower!" She yelled excitedly. I chuckled as Joan finally got tired of lifting it and set it down on the counter again. "That's so cool Mr Moor!"

"Miss Rose please, call me Euca, we're all friends here after all." I picked up Bloody Jack. "And he's not just a chainsaw flamethrower." I held the chainsaw in reverse and suddenly flicked upwards. Suddenly I was now holding a spear with a chainsaw at the end. "It's a chainsaw flamethrower spear."

* * *

I waved goodbye to Ruby as she left the shop.

"So…a new weapon?" I turned to Joan with a grin.

"Nah, it looks cool but I really don't have any other use for it. What use is a transforming weapon when I could switch weapons faster than transforming them?" I said putting Razor Jack into my Inventory. "I like simplicity. The less moving parts there are on my sharpened metal stick, the better. I'll keep Razor Jack around though. I just made it to show off. This is my new weapon, courtesy of the Blacksmith Class."

The hammer that I brought out was wreathed in sparks of yellow lightning. I was half tempted to name it after a certain Norse God's weapon but I figured that I could make an even better one in the future.

 **[Lightning Hammer]**

 **[All attacks and attack based abilities gain Lightning Strike Attributes.]**

 **[+25 Damage, +7 STR, +5 AGI]**

 **[They say Lightning Hammer doesn't strike the same place twice, that's because that place is no more after the first strike.]**

"I can already see the difference." I spoke up as I experimentally gave the hammer a few swings.

"Euca I don't think that you should…" Joan said, eyeing the hammer with caution.

"Look it even leaves behind a trail of sparks!" I stood there, mesmerized by the trail of crackling electricity. "Kracka-THOOM!" I lightly tapped the floor with my new weapon.

The ensuing burst of lightning and the subsequent thunder set everything on fire and destroyed several shelves, the counter, a cracked the shop windows.

"AW COME ON, I JUST HAD THOSE FIXED!" I bemoaned.

Mint, who had been attracted by the flames, and Joan both stifled a giggle at my frustration.

"Oh quiet you two…I'll go put everything out now." I grumbled and moved to Repair and replace.

* * *

"Euca, can I talk to you for a bit?" Joan asked. I looked up from counting the day's earnings and stretched.

"Sure, what's on your mind Joan?" I saw her fidget awkwardly.

"You used to call me by my last name. Why'd that stop?" She asked.

'I stopped?' I thought back on all the times that I had talked to her. 'Holy shit I did. Huh, didn't even notice…'

"Honestly, I didn't notice." I answered honestly. "I mean if you preferred that I kept calling you Arc-"

"No, no!" She interrupted. "I just wanted to know..."

I have out low hum as I the Lien disappeared, being stored by my power.

"Joan, if something's bothering you you can always tell me…I'm not going anywhere, and it's not like I do anything else aside from beat up monsters and mind the shop." I heard her mumble something and I looked up. "Hm? Did you say something Joan?"

"I said 'good night' Euca." She said and went upstairs.

"Huh…strange…" I wondered out loud. "You don't want any dinner?" I called and received a loud 'no'.

"You're both idiots." Mint said from her drawer. She flew out of it and stood on the counter. "Both of you, idiots."

"…On the contrary Mint, I do know what's going on." I replied. "She's having feelings towards me."

"So you do know. You sort of like her, don't you?"

"Maybe." I replied hesitantly, opening the Workshop door. "But then again why wouldn't I, she's attractive, capable, and still hasn't kicked my ass for all the shit I put her through despite definitely being able to and me deserving it, up to and including turning her into a girl..."

"Then why won't you admit it. It's stupid that you dance around this. "

"Well Mint? What do you me to say? Hey Joan, I'm the guy that turned you into a girl, I know that it sounds weird but I like you. Would you like to go out with me?" I scoffed. "There wouldn't be even be a debate on how weird it would be, just strangeness and the feeling of setting everything on fire. Trust me when I say that I am the last person anyone should ever be in a relationship with.

"Why?" Mint asked as she stomped her foot on the counter.

"I am selfish, uncaring, manipulative, and I have trouble genuinely feeling about things..." I explained. "And that's if her feelings are actually genuine. Chances are that all she's feeling is probably an aftereffect of her mind still adjusting."

"And what are you going to do if they are genuine?" Mint asked me. I paused for a bit and actually thought.

"We will cross the bridge when we get to it. Right now I want to do some planning I could use someone else's opinions…if you help me I'll help you level up until you reach Level 10 tomorrow~" I tempted. I could tell that she was liking my offer if her manic expression was anything to go by.

"Alright, fine, I'll help you with the planning…what do you want to do?" She asked, following me into the Workshop and closing the door behind her.

"Well Mint, we're going to pull the biggest prank on Remnant." I said. "Tell me, what do you think of ruling Vale and making it the safest place in the world?"

"…Please tell me we're going to rule the world!"

She was definitely on board with this.


	13. Slimey Bastards

**Hello! Sorry for the very short chapter and the long break. I've been busy with IRL stuff and barely had time to get anything done. No matter. Expect the next chapter to be out late next week!**

 **Also, quick note, previous chapter's ending has been rewritten since I really wasn't comfortable with how I ended it.**

* * *

"No." I said with such authority that Mint actually froze. "You don't know what taking over the world means." I sat down. "Ruling the world is a great accomplishment and seems nice and all but that's only the start. First you have to deal with is the people who were in charge. You either remove them from the equation or they rally the people to fight against you. Then the people you rule, there will always be people who don't like what you're doing or what you stand for and rally people to fight you and all this fighting will affect the resources since the less people doing work the less work is being done. Soon there'd be suffering everywhere and people can't do as you say when they aren't in the condition to do so."

"Then there's the fact that the world is big." I pulled out a map of Remnant. "I cannot be everywhere at once and squash out rebellion after rebellion after rebellion." I rolled up the map and stored it into my inventory. "Trust me, no one really wants to rule the world, the maintenance of doing so is so tiring that you'd be better off having a hero kill you."

"Oh…so why do you want to rule the city?" Mint asked after a few moments of silence.

"Because I want to get rich and powerful enough that anything I do will be hailed as progress by anyone else." I stated. "And ruling a city is manageable and maintaining it could be easily outsourced to anyone with a brain and a hunger for peaceful progress…"

"…so basically you want to be remembered as a great person…" Mint deduced and I smiled.

"Yep, and I want boatloads of money, no scratch that, I want enough money to fill five CCTs…now let's plan."

* * *

"What did you do?" Joan asked me as I began moving towards the Workshop door.

"Well, I promised Mint that I was going to help her level up to Level 10." Mint was happily humming to herself in her drawer.

"I get that, but why are you covered in slime?" Just as she said that a large amount of slime dripped from my shirt, formed up into a tiny Slime that tried to escape but was aptly stepped on.

"Well, I went to the Slime Dungeon since I had better weapons now and one thing led to another." I shrugged. "Needless to say, fuck Dragons, Slimes are the strongest monsters there are."

"But…aren't they usually…beginner monsters?"

"Joan, listen to me." I said in a very serious tone. "The Slimes I fight, they can't die, they don't die, and they refuse to die!" I giggled madly. "They eat your armour, your shoes and your belongings."

"The only thing you can do is chip away at them, which is much harder to do given that they negate physical damage almost completely. And then, the small parts that you chip away are still alive and either attack you or go away to grow bigger and then attack you."

"Uhh…Joan, I think we should leave Euca alone for now. Oh I have a cool new thing to show off!" Mint showed up to lead Joan away as I began curling into a ball and whimpering.

"Slimes…Slimes everywhere…"

"Shouldn't we help him?"

"Nope!"

* * *

"Feeling better now?" Joan asked as I exited the Workshop looking noticeably happier compared to my earlier state.

"Very." I beamed my creepiest and most terrifying grin.

"…What did you do?" She hesitantly asked.

Without any warning I suddenly equipped something from my inventory.

 **[Lesser Slime Armor]**

 **[Ability: Shapeshift: Engulfs the user in slime and reshapes the body according to the users will. While Shapeshifted, the amount of damage dealt is reduced to 1 before reverting the user to their original form.]**

"Other classes get strong weapons that cut through cities like butter, Merchants get the cool toys." I lightly tapped the green full plate armour that looked like it was made of slightly transparent jelly. "Aaand Shapeshift!"

The armour exploded and devoured me and I watched as Joan took a cautious step back. I could feel the armour melt and shape me according to my thoughts. Finally the slime receded and standing in front of Joan was a mirror image of her only with the same terrifying grin I had,

"Like it?" I said, using a touch of Voice Mimicry to sound like her. I flipped her hair back once before undoing the transformation.

"Please don't do that again, that was creepy."

"Noted and ignored. I do what I want." I said. "Now I'm going to bed because I'm tired from bottling Slimes. Joan feel free to close up early."

I quickly scrambled upstairs and dove into my bed where I fell asleep almost immediately.


	14. Update

Hi there. I'm Fossil Dragon. What you may remember was a few months back I was writing a story called The Shopkeeper Is A Dick. Well I'm here to tell you all that I'm back to writing fics again and I would like to say that TSIAD is cancelled.

 **This version at least.**

In the coming days, whenever I'm not busy, I will be working on a new version of TSIAD. Hopefully it will be better than my previous attempt, now that I know what I'm avoiding. I'm also thinking about changing some format a little. So stay tuned for more updates.

Hua!


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